Ashtanga Yoga Guru – Sri K. Pattabhi Jois

Gratitude (कृतज्ञता) – Something unconditional love and acceptance of the metaphor wisdom and teaching of guru, or a person who we really look up to and motivated to practice and learn a great tradition of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga.

Thursday – गुरूवार – the day of guru | बृहस्पतिवार – the day of the planet Jupiter. Today 18th May 2017 – 8 Years since guruji left. I am grateful for his teaching and to everyone who got touched by him. Dear Ashtangis thank you all for keeping the tradition alive and inspiring people like us – new Ashtangis 🙂

Why one want to practice first and then learn? Learning is something I personally find a barrier (a huge mental barrier called – Ego). Practicing anything – Right Away will set you free and you can adopt or move to next thing faster.

Salutation to the noble Guru, who is Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara, the direct Parabrahma, the Supreme Reality.

Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois is a name that people swear by. These Ashtanga students are an inspiration to me and I am so grateful that guru ji is ever-alive in so many hearts around the world. The people who get up before the sunrise and begin their day with a practice that is liberating and twisting the ego, I would call it. Asana is one aspect that is keeping me align with my goals, practising keep me learning fast and taking time off to reflect and forgive all the shortcomings. It is ok – we are students.

This day Guru ji Sri K Pattabhi Jois left the body, his teachings, inspiration and unique `style` is omnipresent everywhere. How many lives has been saved, how many people are finding their purpose, aligning their life and being true them. So Many – when you look you will find them. Ashtanga Yoga Students who believe in liberation through practice – practice – practice and more practice (as Guruji always said).

Sri K. Pattabhi Jois was born on July 26, 1915, a day of the full moon, in a small village near Somnathpur, Karnataka in South India. He passed away on May 18, 2009, at the age of 94.

Coming from a traditional Hindu Brahman family, his father, Krishna Pattabhi Jois, was a well-known astrologer in the service of the Maharajah (King) of Mysore and he was curious about Yoga and Sanskrit, that led him meeting and been accepted as a student by Sri T Krishnamacharya.

The famous portrait of Sri K Pattabhi Jois in Samasthiti

After school in 1930, he began studying Sanskrit and Vedic philosophy at the Maharaja Sanskrit College in Mysore. After graduation In 1937, he immediately went into teaching Sanskrit at the University of Mysore and continued until 1973. He spent another three years teaching at the Ayur Vedic College and then retired.

He began studying Yoga in 1927 when he was 12 years old. He then lived with his parents in a small village near Hassan in Karnataka. During the first three years, he undertook a journey back and forth every day to visit his Guru Sri T. Krishnamacharya, who lived just outside Mysore. He received the teaching of his master for 25 years (1927 to 1952). Krishnamacharya asked him to transmit a method of original Yoga, called Yoga Korunta (known today as Ashtanga Yoga). Sri K. Pattabhi Jois taught Yoga in India from 1937, then later in the U.S.A and Europe. He received students from around the world to study this wonderful method of Yoga.

Sri K. Pattabhi Jois started KPJAI for research on Ashtanga Yoga. He taught today’s excellent Yoga pupils in India from 1937 until the departure of his soul on the 18 May 2009. He taught the seekers from around the world in India, the U.S.A, and Europe. He received students from around the world to study this deep subject of Ashtanga Yoga.

“Anyone can practice. The young can practice. The old can practice. Very old can practice. A sick person can practice, a person who does not have strength can practice. Except for lazy people, lazy people can not practice Ashtanga Yoga” – Shri Krishna Pattabhi Jois (1915-2009)

A tribute to Sri Pattabhi Jois explaining the method and practice. Please comment, subscribe to the newsletter, practice + join hands and share the message.

Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois on Ashtanga Yoga Practice and method

Guruji on Liberation through Practice

Thank you guruji, thank you Mysore, thank you, everyone, for inspiring me every day to practice. I am grateful to know “Practice – Everything is coming!”